Video, report on deadly Walmart case are released

PORT ORCHARD — Jacqueline still struggles with whether she did the right thing.

"I think about it every day," said the South Kitsap woman who called 911 on Jan. 23 to report that she was suspicious of the relationship her friend, 31-year-old Anthony Martinez, had with 13-year-old Astrid Valdivia.

Less than three hours after Jacqueline's first call to 911, Martinez was involved in a shootout with Kitsap County sheriff's deputies at the Port Orchard Walmart. Martinez killed himself and Valdivia, according to a Washington State Patrol investigation, and injured two deputies.

More details of the January shooting emerged Friday, when the state patrol released its report on its investigation into the incident.

The patrol also released surveillance footage from Walmart's security cameras. The video shows Martinez running, turning and firing at the two deputies before he collapses to the ground. The 13-year-old runs to him and collapses beside him.

Deputy Krista McDonald, who troopers said shot Martinez in the leg, can be seen approaching the suspect and securing his gun. She at first stands cover over the wounded deputies.

Jacqueline, who asked her last name not be used, said she arrived moments after those events.

She had been called to the Walmart by Deputy John Stacy, so she could help identify Martinez. About eight minutes after she spoke to Stacy, she arrived at the store — and saw the emergency lights.

"It made my heart sink," she said.

She worked her way to the front of all those lights and wondered what had happened to the cop she'd confided in following that 911 call. "The last thing I wanted was for a police officer to get shot," she said.

Jacqueline had been uncomfortable about making the 911 call.

Martinez was a friend she had met at an antiques show in Idaho in summer 2010. She also had been on probation for a minor crime and didn't want any trouble with the law.

But she couldn't help but think something was wrong.

She had thought Martinez was a nice man when she met him, someone who would open the car door for her. Jacqueline stayed in touch with him while she lived in Idaho and he in Utah, visiting him occasionally when she had time off from work.

When her seasonal job as a cook ended, Jacqueline came to Port Orchard, where she has family. She stayed in touch with Martinez over email, she said.

Martinez and Valdivia showed up at her door on a Thursday, three days before the shooting. They went to Subway and to the Hi-Joy Bowl and caught up, Jacqueline said.

He said 'I've come to surprise you,' " she said. "It was a big surprise."

But Martinez seemed different, she said. Jacqueline started wondering about the nature of her visitors' relationship. She didn't know the 13-year-old was a runaway, but when Martinez introduced her as his daughter, Samantha, something didn't seem right.

For one thing, they were holding hands. The 13-year-old seemed happy, but "it was an 'in love' kind of happy," Jacqueline said.

She was uncomfortable spending time with them. Martinez also had shown her a clip of ammunition and asked for a place to park his van where "no cops would bother him."

Martinez was out on bail for kidnapping Valdivia and taking her to Sacramento, Calif., in 2010. Valdivia had been staying at a foster home, but she cut her ankle bracelet and left. The two headed to Port Orchard in his van.

On the day before the shooting, Jacqueline took her out-of-town visitors to Seattle because Martinez wanted to see the city. They took the Bremerton ferry, she said.

On Sunday, Martinez wanted to go to the Family Fun Center in Tukwila. They'd gone to a similar kind of place when she visited Martinez in Utah. Jacqueline called 911 a little after 1 p.m.

She called again at 2:51 and said she was heading to Walmart to meet Martinez and Astrid, she said.

At 3:43 p.m., Deputy Stacy and Deputy Andrew Ejde approached Martinez, according to the state patrol report. He and a girl were seated on a bench under a smoking hut to the side of the store.

Stacy asked the man if he was Anthony Martinez. The 31-year-old said his name was Nick and handed over as identification a food handler's card. The photo on the card didn't look like Martinez.

The deputy asked him to move away from the smoking hut so they could pat him down for weapons.

Martinez pulled away, the state patrol report said, and ran west toward the parking lot. Stacy lunged to tackle him. He missed and fell to the ground.

Martinez pulled a .40 caliber Glock, shooting both deputies. The surveillance video shows him continuing to run then falling to the ground. Troopers believe Deputy Krista McDonald hit him in the left leg with one of seven rounds she'd fired.

Martinez fired 12 shots from a 15-shot clip. Investigators say he then shot Valdivia three times and himself once.

Because McDonald and Martinez used the same type of gun — a .40 caliber Glock — state patrol crime lab forensic scientists used extensive ballistics testing to determine who shot whom. They found the bullets that killed Valdivia were "most consistent" with those fired by Martinez.

Jacqueline said she hasn't spoken to Stacy since. She said she wrote him a letter and dropped it off at the sheriff's office. "I wanted to thank him," she said. "But I also felt responsible for what happened."

She said that Martinez was adamant about not going back to jail. "The way things went was his choice," she said. "That's the way he wanted to go."

Jacqueline still has no idea why Martinez would shoot Valdivia. "I can't explain why he would've taken her," she said. "I am so sorry she was taken — she had so much life left to live."